Though the Hotel Intercontinental had a good gym, the Panavision view from my window prompted me to do my daily workouts along the beach for the remainder of my stay. The surrounding landscape had the kind of voluptuous beauty that couldn’t quite be captured in photos. At some point during the stay, Giônia had mentioned that in recent years 5,000 Americans had applied for residency visas. With natural beauty like that being a simple part of the daily routine, who could blame them?

A serene Sunday morning, alas, could not last forever, and around noon, Giônia whisked us from the laid-back environs of São Conrado to Porcão Rio, a barbeque and buffet emporium with a stunning layout of food that could make one forget you had a bikini to fit into, even if meat was not your thing. Next, up to the top of Sugar Loaf, where visitors are not only treated to stunning 360° views of Rio, but also a champagne bar (!) and a micro-branch of Amsterdam Sauer (H. Stern’s competitor) hawking jewels and gems. And as both Turet and Giônia informed me earlier on, a serious fashionista could not say she had been to Rio without a trip to the Hippie Fair. Though we nearly missed the fair because it was so hard to leave the vistas atop Sugar Loaf behind, the fair exceeded expectations…and my mission of bringing cool stuff back for friends was accomplished. The day was capped eating Amazon snacks at Palaphita Kitsch Gastonomia Amazonica, one of the most stylish outdoor beachside kiosks (down to Adonis waiters) I had ever experienced.